


Knight's Witch

by Sixylicious



Series: To Defy Destiny [7]
Category: Elder Scrolls Online, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Darien Gautier Spoilers, ESO Summerset Spoilers, Gen, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Not Really Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 19:02:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16708246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sixylicious/pseuds/Sixylicious
Summary: She's searched for him for a thousand years, only to find him again where she least expected: tied up with the young Redguard Dragonborn whose life she had saved.





	Knight's Witch

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during the Thieves Guild questline after Mercer tries to kill Kemosiri. Khati brings him and Karliah to Winterhold seeking Velia's help. I promise we'll post that eventually!

Kemosiri slept in one of the spare rooms in the Hall of Attainment when Velia borrowed Dawnbreaker in the darkest hour of the night and slipped away into the Midden and her workshop. The ritual was easy to set up, a conjuration circle etched around the sword and a soul gem to power it. She'd felt her Knight's presence around the young Dragonborn since Khati had dragged her from her work three nights prior and begged her to save Kemosiri's life. It was hard to believe after so long that they would finally be reunited.

The Golden Knight's glow lit the room, forcing her to blink and look away. After so long in the dark, his light burned her no matter how much she wanted to embrace it. But there he was, just as Meridia had promised, only a thousand years too late for anything they could have become.

"I promised I'd be back, didn't I?"

Darien rested his hand on her shoulder, the golden glow seeping from his skin into hers. The shadows she'd used as a blanket for all those years burned away at his touch, and for a second she felt like herself again, the young Psijic he'd known those many years ago.

"Vel? Why won't you look at me?"

He moved his hand to her cheek and turned her head to face him, only to recoil at what he saw deep within her eyes. 

Velia smiled full of sorrow, and lifted her hand to rest over his. "Darien... my Darien. Nearly a thousand years have passed. Meridia told me you would return and then abandoned me. When the last of the power she left me faded, I had to look elsewhere to survive."

Darien pulled his hand away, resting it at his side where Dawnbreaker hung so long ago. The sword itself lie forgotten in the ritual circle across the room. "That darkness... Velia, what did you do?"

"You of all people know time passes differently in Oblivion." Velia lowered her hand and sunk into a nearby chair. "Sit, love. Let me tell you the rest of my story."

***

You promised me you would return and I believed you. More than that, Meridia promised me you would return and I believed Her. And then in Camlorn you returned to me... but this time, it was you who didn't remember. I screamed at Meridia, cursed her, told her what use was retrieving my soul if you had forgotten us?

And She bade me wait, be patient. So I waited, but every time we met you still could not remember. Then we spoke in Coldharbour and finally I could see the recognition in your eyes again... but she took you away once more. I cursed Meridia, even as my journey took me to Orsinium, to Anvil, to Vvardenfell. Do you have any idea how hard Gabrielle and I worked to bring you back?

In Vvardenfell, the mists of Oblivion twisted time around me again. I met Nocturnal's Earl before Nocturnal did. Did you know she was a young Redoran girl? I did everything I could to keep her safe, keep her away from Summerset, keep her from catching Nocturnal's gaze, and it was all for nothing. I know that now. I played right into Her hands. 

When we couldn't find you, I swore upon Meridia's last spark within me that I would not rest until we were reunited. 

Then I watched as the shadows curled up around me and the spark went out.

***

"I knew I recognized the darkness in you... When did you turn to Nocturnal?"

Velia laughed, bitter, Nocturnal's shadows flaring around her. "I didn't know it then, but I carried Nocturnal's essence from the Crystal Tower. Meridia's future champion, already discarded and left to the shadows to rot."

Darien stood, the light bursting from him to wrestle her shadows back until they cradled her seated form. "No! I wouldn't have let her abandon you. I escaped the Colored Rooms so I could find you."

"What you've found is the shadow of the Vestige you once loved, whose grief and anger pulled her into the darkness. The Psijic girl is dead, killed by Mannimarco's blade and then again by Meridia's betrayal. In her place is this." Velia stood, pushing the shadows out around her once more. Her eyes flashed the purple of Evergloam. "They call me Nocturnal's Witch."

He frowned and shook his head. "No, the Velia I knew can't be gone. You once saved me from Mephala, now I'll save you from Nocturnal."

The smile that graced Velia's face was almost like he remembered from Coldharbour many years ago.

"We shall see, my knight. We shall see."

With that, Velia dismissed the bindings around Dawnbreaker and Darien's form vanished in a flash of golden light.

**Author's Note:**

> I made Velia in ESO two weeks ago and oops, now she's the canon Vestige for the To Defy Death universe. She made me do it. Darien deserved better!


End file.
